Northeast Nigeria has been mired in armed conflict for more than a decade, with civilians and local communities being hit the hardest. Considerable human and financial resources deployed to prosecute the insurgency in the region have yielded few results, raising the question of whether strategies adopted by previous administrations lacked a clear and sustainable vision…
Last month, the UN Secretary General presented the annual report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict in 2022 to the UN Security Council, as the incumbent of the position has done since 1999. Given the daily news coverage of the past year, drawing some general conclusions about what the report says could have…
The 14-year long conflict in Northeast Nigeria and the deeply rooted gender-based inequalities have significantly contributed to exacerbating sexual violence in the country. While all genders are vulnerable to sexual violence, women and girls are more affected, especially those in conflict-affected areas. Data from 2022 show that there has been an increase in recent…
When thinking of the protection of civilians in conflict, access to information might not be the first thing that comes to mind. Yet, access to timely and verified information can play a critical role in their protection. While civilians may turn to multiples sources to seek information, which vary from online forums to social media…
Civil-military relations are essential for maintaining peace and stability in any society. However, there are challenges to these relations, especially in areas where there are existing conflicts or tensions. One way to address these challenges is through deliberate community engagement by military and security forces. Engaging with the local communities to discuss and understand the…
United Nations (UN) Member States have increasingly highlighted the importance of UN peacekeeping engagement with conflict-affected communities.[1] The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated instability and exposed systemic inequalities in a number of UN peacekeeping contexts, emphasizing a new challenge of community engagement, while increasing the urgency of UN peacekeeping missions to engage vulnerable communities in safe…